U.S. and Iraqi negotiators have agreed on 2011 as the date to pull out troops from Iraq with a few details remaining to be worked in creating a final accord that governs the future of military presence in Iraq.

Iraqi and US officials have said that a few issues still need to be resolved, but the officials said that the key element has been reached: a timetable for troop withdrawal once resisted by President Bush. One element still left in negotiations is whether US troops will be persecuted under Iraqi law if accused of committing crimes.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Iraqi Minister Nouri al-Maliki spent nearly three hours on Thursday discussing key unresolved issues. The accord must be approved by both governments before a United Nations mandate by end of year.

Analysts, however, see this advancement in talks as having an affect on the US presidential race, especially Barack Obama's campaign and appeal as the anti-war candidate.

James McCann, a PurdueUniversity political science professor, told Reuters that an accord that would wind down the war in Iraq could deprive Obama of an issue that has brought him much attention. Obama's campaign pledge is a 16-month timetable for a US military withdrawal.

However, McCain has always backed Iraq. "If the White House can work out some sort of agreement to demobilize in Iraq ... that could make life a little easier for McCain, because he has been forced over the last months to defend his hawkish position on Iraq," said McCann.

Sources: Washington Post, Reuters